Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles One rifle... one scope...one caliber...one load... which one?

Leo, in my book a simple hunting battery of maybe one or two, possibly three well-built, quality rifles (depending upon your needs) is all that's necessary or even desireable. Unless you're hunting Big Five species in Africa and really need a big-bore for buffalo and stuff like that, you can certainly get by with just one of two rifles for all your other big game hunting, anywhere in the world.

Total familiarity is really important, and that's why I stick with the same actions and the same stocks for all my hunting rifles...........

AD

Allen,

Yep, I agree. Not a bad philosophy at all.

Leo

The one rifle would be Savage 110. I know it is not the most fashionable choice but they funtion and the one I have is a shooter. The caliber would be 30-06. Load would be a good 180 grain at 2700+. Scope would be a leupie 3x9x40. M8x57

Mine happens to be a Pre64 (1949) 30-06 in a McMillan G&H (painted by Rick)and Zeiss 3x10x44. It shoots 165 TSX at 2950 fps and 180 TSX at 2800 fps. The 165's shoot little groups, the 180's shoot into little bitty groups

I am seeing alot of 270s, 30-06s and a few 300Winny's on this thread, hmmm, I wonder why?

Ok, here I go...

Remington 700 AWR (Alaskan Wilderness Rifle) in 300/375 Ruger topped with a Leupold 4.5x14 with M2 top only Turret.

Shooting Barnes 168 TTSX's at 3,400 fps. Or Berger 168 VLD's.

Mule Deer, Elk, Bear, whatever. Long, short, medium range, whatever.

I suppose I would go with either the 30-06 and 200 gr. Noslers or the .375 H&H and 300 gr. Northforks. I hope I never have to make such a decision...A lot would depend on what I had in mind for hunting.

If I were trekking across Africa then I would opt for the .375 of course, if on this continent I would opt for the 06, and my only concer would be the Giant bears of Alaska, but the 06 would get me by them quit well.

If forced to go with one, then I will have to say Rem. 700 in .35 Whelen, 225 gr. Nosler Partions at 2700fps. Leupold VX-III in 2.5x8 with Leuopold Dot reticle. Take the great bears off the menu and then I would go with .30-06, 180 gr. Partitions, same rifle and scope.

For a scoped rifle, I'd pick a boring Savage 110 in 30-06. The Ford Taurus of bolt rifles - nothing fancy but it just flat works.

For iron sights, I'd pick a M39 Finn. I've got a battered old Sako with kill notches in the stock (whether reindeer or Russians will never be known) and it has enough life left in it to get a few more notches if I took it out hunting.

LH 700 BDL converted to ADL in a McMillan stock with a Leupy 1.75x6x36 atop (that ain't a misprint) shooting 210 gr. Nosler partitions outa a .338 WM case.

I could get by with that and not feel handicapped.

but I'd miss the fun of a few others I've grown fond of.

Boy, I would not want my wife to read this thread. Got er convinced, ya need a different gun for every hunt

I know I could not live with only one big game rifle for all of North America, but were I forced to I'd probably opt for a .308 Win with a 22" barrel. I own such a configured Featherweight that I bought as a backpacking rifle. I did a lot of research prior to buying it. It seems like with .308 caliber rifles for mule deer 165 grain projectiles are most often used. Further, most shots are well under 350 yards, about point blank range for the .308 Winchester. Moreover, this caliber is accurate beyond belief. The recoil is light, and the cartridge is the definition of efficient. To make a long story short, this rifle has become my primary hunting rifle even when not backpacking. And with 180 grain bullets it is entirely suitable for bigger ungulates. Also, I hunt where big bears roam and I have never, ever felt inadequate should I have had to defend myself with the .308 Win.

BTW, with Light Magnum 165 grain rounds, my rifle chronographs better than 2900 FPS.

How could I go wrong...???


M

.......well you sure did a good job convincing me otherwise in the rest of your post!

Welcome to the Campfire!

Oh yeah, if not for the fact I already own a .308 Win, I would most assuredly opt for something that shoots a .284 caliber projectile such as the 7MM-08, .280 Rem, 7MM Mauser, or 7MM Rem mag. I have read the thesis more than once that the .284 160 projectile is the most efficient of all big game projectiles. Might be something to it!

RickyD,

Thanks.

As a kid I used to hunt with guys who mostly owned but one rifle. Their refrain was it's better to own one rifle and know it thoroughly. Probably good advice that I never had the sense to follow!


Take care,

M

A light .308 is the epitome of an efficient package in every way... I'm a big believer in the .308 family of cartridges. i'm astounded that you guys are seeing 2900 fps with 165's, but, there it is! I can beat that with my 30-06 but not by much.

Brad, and you, and Kimber, have me thinking that a .308 Montana, combined with my .325 Montana, and shee-it... that'd be about that!

What brand and setup (scope, mounts, etc) is your .308, Mando? And I 2nd the welcome to the 'Fire.

-jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks.

I have a CRF, stainless model with a silver 2.5x8 Vari-XIII. I'm guessing the whole thing, sling included, weighs just over 8 pounds. I have had it bedded and the trigger worked to about 3 pounds. With one in the chamber, it'll hold six rounds, which translates to plenty of missin'! I will shoot an inch all day long with all ammo I've tested.

My rifle will also chrono 180 grain Core-Lokts at better than 2700 FPS. I was told that I am fortunate to have a "fast" barrel. Maybe so, but I am more fortunate that it will shoot these rounds very accurately. I would much prefer to hit at that which I'm aiming with a slower bullet than have a "speedier" one pass on by!

I have old reloading info from Ken Waters. He wrote of getting better than 2500 FPS with 200 grain bullets. I'd like to load a box or so with bonded bullets to have just in case I were to meet a mean bear high in the Rockies. But I suppose a bonded 180 grain would work just as well.

Caliber selection, more often than not, boils down to subjectivity. I will never fault a man whose choice is different than mine so long as it's reasonable. Of course a .22 Hornet is a poor choice for muleys. But when it comes to most big game cartridges, they're all suitable when used within their parameters. For me, I researched the game I was most often to hunt and distances at which I am capable of harvesting an animal. After I finished reading and talking to hunters, I chose the .308 Win as my mountain rifle. Fact is, most other calibers would have worked as well, maybe better. But I like the idea of low recoil which makes practice more pleasant. The round is nearly identical to the venerable '06, except where heavier bullets come into play; meaning it is more than powerful enough for all North American ungulates. Since I am unlikely to ever use anything over 180 grains, for me the .308 Win made more sense. Also, ammo is inexpensive and easy to find...anywhere.

Jeff, what's your take on this topic? What would be your choice limiting to only North American big game?

Jeff, I just read your post here to start this thread. Your Rem '06 is an excellent choice. While I do not own an '06, I have a soft spot in my heart. One day I will own one. I'd love to own a Gerand(sp?). I once knew a guy who used to hunt with one. Kinda heavy, but a neat gun. He used iron sights. I remember a muley he felled with it. It was about a 200 yard shot. That's the way I'd go, military issue with iron sights. Patience & skill...

Well, I actually started this thread so... I had to make my call early! After reading some of what you guys have or wish you had, it's more confusing than ever.

I said my M700 in 30-06, with a 2.5x8 VX-III, shooting the 165-gn TSX. Mine was formerly a Mountain Rifle but I had it rebarreled by PacNor to a 22" sporter profile barrel, but I kept the MR stock and just widened out the barrel channel a little.

However. I just bought, which means we are in the honeymoon period, a Kimber 8400 Montana in .325 WSM that is just a spectacular rifle. 300 WSM would probably be the more logical choice, but whadaya gonna do; I like oddball calibers! Ammo availability aside, it's a great rifle and would do anything I need to do, and then some.

But in truth I am a gun nut and have a number (ahem) of different rifles for different situations. My main deer rifle, since I hunt blacktail in the PNW jungle, is a Model 7 rebarreled to .358 Win. Killer rifle, literally. Just seriously puts deer down. And I have a .338 WM that is my primary BOLT elk rifle, or was until I bought the Kimber. I also have a .325 WSM Browning BLR that I carried all season for elk and my idea is to get set up with ONE LOAD for the two WSM's and then retire the .338 for a while, and use the two 325's for all types of elk hunting.

I'm very tolerant of recoil and love my .338 and .325's. I chose the 30-06 because in my original post on this thread, I mentioned that someday, as I age, I might not be able to tolerate the recoil of the .338 and in truth, the '06 (or your .308) will kill anything the .338 will.

-jeff

Mando,

Hey- is that a mandolin referance? I'm a gee-tar player.

I love Garands! Never had one, but I have had two M1a's, which are the .308 version of the same thing.

-jeff